Cutback in food-stamp benefits a blow to needy all across country

Published 8:51 pm, Tuesday, November 5, 2013

The shameful gap between rich and poor in the United States has become even wider with the recent cutbacks in food stamp benefits for the needy.

This most recent blow to low-income individuals and families across the country occurred last week when Congress failed to continue funding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) at the same level it had been at for several years.

The net effect is that benefits through SNAP -- the biggest anti-hunger program in the U.S. -- have been slashed 13.6 percent. That cutback reportedly translates to roughly $36 a month, or about $430 a year, for a family of four.

Those dollar amounts may not sound like much for those who think nothing of ordering a $36 entree or picking up a $430 dinner tab for four at a nice restaurant. But $36 a month and $430 a year is real money for those who can barely put food on the table.

Those cutbacks will affect the lives of about 48 million Americans, including thousands of residents of Danbury and surrounding towns, some of them your neighbors and friends.

They will have a detrimental impact on low-income individuals, on families down on their luck, on children, seniors and veterans.

The cutbacks will also put a greater burden on local charitable organizations in Greater Danbury and across the country -- organizations already hard-pressed to keep up with the demand to help those in need in today's continuing weak economy.

The slashing of benefits to the needy will also hurt the small grocery stores and convenience stores where so many low-income people spend much of their money.

And more reductions in food-stamp benefits -- as well as tightened restrictions on food-stamp eligibility -- are coming as part of a federal farm bill now on the front burner in Congress.

Sadly, many of those affected by the reduction in food-stamp benefits are unemployed or are minimum-wage earners working two, three, even four jobs --people who desperately need assistance in helping to put food on the table.

We think it is disgraceful that Congress, which has refused for years to increase the minimum wage in this country, is pulling part of the rug out from under so many of their constituents in the form of reduced food-stamp benefits.

The harsh reality is that all too many members of Congress -- which is comprised largely of millionaires who can't identify with the plight of the tens of millions of Americans living in poverty -- simply do not care what happens to the needy all across America.

We call on Connecticut's U.S. senators and Congressmen to do all they can to help maintain sufficient benefits for those who need them.

We urge Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and the state government to do what they can in light of the federal cutbacks. And we encourage governments and charitable groups throughout Greater Danbury to be prepared to step up their efforts to help local residents hardest hit by the callous actions of the U.S. Congress.